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Naptime for the Boone Children's Gallery

This weekend marks the last chance—for a while, at least—to bring your kids to the Boone Children's Gallery. The current exhibition, Construct, will close on Sunday so we can renovate LACMA West as part of the campuswide Transformation campaign.

The Boone Gallery has always been a feather in our cap. It opened about ten years ago, shortly after the former May Co. building was officially reopened to the public as LACMA West. The exhibitions—always free, often wonderfully noisy—have been a fun way for kids to learn about and interact with art. So it's a little bittersweet to see the gallery lights go dark, even if just temporarily.

The good news is that when the gallery reopens as part of the refurbished LACMA West (planned for 2010), it will be better than ever. The entire second floor will be dedicated to education. Our museum educators' offices will be right down the way from the all-new Boone Gallery, which will be joined by an interactive media lab for kids. Study centers dedicated to prints and drawings, textiles, and photography will also be installed for slightly older students (i.e., grad students and scholars, among others).

Yes, the Boone Gallery is ready for its nap; but when it wakes up it is really going to be ready to play.